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Debt and money policy research

As the largest multi-channel provider of free debt advice, we help nearly half a million people a year to find a way forward with debt and money troubles. To help people avoid financial difficulty, credit products need to be designed so that people can use them safely.

This applies to everyday financial products such as bank accounts and credit cards and is also particularly important for products aimed at people with poor credit ratings, such as payday, logbook and guarantor loans.

When people get into problem debt, it is important that they are treated fairly and with dignity. Too often creditors rush into aggressive debt collection and fail to negotiate affordable repayments. We are seeing more and more people come for help because they are behind on household bill debts like rent and council tax. Unfortunately the creditors with the worst debt collection practices are often councils and central government departments. People who are able and want to pay back their debts in an affordable way over time do not have a way to do this with confidence.

Our research looks into this full range of debt and money issues, from high cost credit to how being in debt can affect someone’s life chances.